I’m nose deep in a bowl of coconut curry made by a Thai lady who’s been perfecting the same dish for the last 30 years.
It’s glorious. I’m having a religious experience with these noodles. I do not want to be bothered.
So I yank the vibrating phone out of my pocket – ready to smash the thing on the concrete if it continues to distract me from my spicy goodness.
*bzz *bzz *bzz
The commotion comes from payment notifications hitting my bank account.
Thrivecart Sale notification: 000000238 Advertorial Template…
Thrivecart Sale notification: 000000239 Consulting Package …
Thrivecart Sale notification: 000000240 Advertorial 101 Training Program…
As I sit in this noodle shack, nestled in the mountains of Thailand, noodles momentarily forgotten – I realize that my crazy entrepreneurial journey has come full circle.
I finally reached the point that I dreamed of when starting the whole thing.
Back in 2012 – I left my corporate sales job, took every penny I had to pay off my student debt, and bought a 1-way ticket to Thailand.
I landed with 500 bucks in my pocket, the naive obstinance of an unsupervised 24-year-old, and no real plan beyond “find people who make money online and figure out how to do what they do.”
^^^ Baby Rachel full of unabashed naiveté back in 2012 Bangkok…. who TF let me pluck my eyebrows to oblivion ?
It was the wild west of internet marketing – anything goes kind of landscape – and I was ready to try it all.
Anything to buy me one more month of nomad utopia before I had to head home and get a “real job.”
I remember the first moment I got fired up about building an online business. A friend took me out for drinks in Bangkok, and had his phone sitting on the table between us.
Every few seconds it would go off – *bzz *bzz *bzz…
They were paypal notifications from clients and customers buying SEO links from him.
When I asked why he didn’t turn off the notifications (since there were A LOT of them), he said it motivated him to see the sales streaming in – both an instant dopamine hit for the hard work he’d already done, and a kick in the butt to keep building bigger and better than ever before.
That was the moment I figured out who I wanted to be when I grew up.
The guy sitting in a bar or cafe in the middle of the day…
Taking a friend out for drinks because they’re blowing through town…
Not subject to anyone else’s schedule or expectations…
Payment notifications flowing in from passive income sources and consulting work.
Livin’ the dream bro, livin’ the dream.
So now, as I hand over $1.60 for these amazing noodles served in a shack on the side of the road…
I realize it’s been exactly 10 years since I decided to make this thing real, and somehow – in the best way – I’ve ended up right where I started from.
I had no idea what I was doing, failed far more than once, and I googled my way to success most of the way…
But with the help of incredible mentors, a healthy dose of pig-headed tenacity, and an eclectic troupe of the most talented, kind, and generous friends anyone could ever ask for…
I now sit in the same place I started… but this time… on the other side of the table.
So before I scoot off on my motorbike and hit one of the many Thai cafes to dig into day of tippy typing away on the laptop…
I want to say to everyone who’s helped me along the way (either with your generous support, saintlike patience, and even those who gifted me painful lessons)…
Thank you.
It’s been a wild ride so far, and I still feel like we’re just getting started.
Here’s to your journey to the other side of the table.
Want help kickstarting your own copy career??
I tried every freelance skill in the book when I was just getting started – web design, SEO, technical writing – but the craft that I’ve stuck with the longest… the one that has brought me the greatest success, helped me build the best businesses – is sales copywriting.
If you’re interested in building a copywriting career – OR transitioning from another marketing skill like content writing to higher-paying copy clients – then advertorials are a great place to start.
They’re easy to learn, quick to write compared to huge, behemoth sales pages, and are in-demand with clients because they help business owners lower their traffic costs, and convert more cold traffic prospects.
If you’d like my help adding this profitable and valuable tool to your freelance toolbox – check out my Advertorial 101 Training Program here.
It’s a step-by-step training program that teaches you how to design, research, write, and publish effective advertorial pre-sales pages that get cold and skeptical readers in the right mindset to buy.